Here's what you need to know about Steve Chabot and Aftab Pureval in 30 seconds
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Democratic candidate, Hamilton County Clerk, Aftab Pureval smiles as he listens to an answer from Republican incumbent, U.S. Rep,. Steve Chabot during a debate forum for the first and second congressional districts of Ohio hosted by AJC Cincinnati at the Mayerson Jewish Community Center in Amberly, Ohio, on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018.(Photo: Sam Greene/The Enquirer)Buy Photo

Republican voters in Ohio's hotly contested 1st Congressional District have gotten a head start.

The race for the district that covers parts of Hamilton County and all of Warren County has received national attention as key for control of Congress. But if there's going to be a so-called "blue wave" of Democratic support, the early voting numbers don't show it yet.

The race pits Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Westwood against Democrat Aftab Pureval. Based on ballots issued by the end of the first week of early voting, signs look favorable for Chabot.

The number of Republican absentee ballots issued in the 1st Congressional District outpaced Democratic ballots 24,820 to 13,532, statistics from the boardsof elections of Warren and Hamilton County revealed.

The statistics cover the end of day Wednesday for Hamilton County and end of day Thursday in Warren County.

But don't call the race yet between Chabot and Pureval just yet.

A vast majority of the ballots, 26,049, were non-partisan. And there's still about three more weeks of voting to go.

"This is just another indication that it takes more than a pretty smile and canned talking points to inspire people to go out and vote for you," Chabot's campaign spokesman Cody Rizzuto said. "From the primary numbers, to the New York Times Poll, to these absentee numbers, it’s apparent that Aftab hasn’t even inspired a ripple let alone a blue wave."

Pureval's campaign wasn't discouraged. It's not unusual for Republicans to have more absentee ballots issued early.

In the first week of early voting in 2016, 2014 and 2010 in Hamilton County, Republicans had more ballots issued than Democrats, according to statistics from the Hamilton County Board of Elections.

"We are excited by the support we've seen from around the district," said Alex Lundrigan, spokesman for Pureval's campaign, in a statement. "Democrats are leading the early vote in person, we've increased our early vote ballots in Warren County, and we've doubled the number of Democratic early voters from this point in 2014. We're also encouraged to see the number of independent voters go up in the district, because we're confident they will break for Aftab and his message of changing Washington."

It's also important to note not all ballots issued get cast. And the number so far is a fraction of the registered voters who will vote in the race. In the 2016 General Election during Chabot's last race, which wasn't as strongly contested, more than 240,000 votes were cast in 1st Congressional District. A higher turnout is expected this year.